But I’ve had something in my mind that has been wrapping laps around it. Not sure if I can post about it, to be honest.

Anyway, I do plan on posting soon. Hopefully about it, but if not I’ll find SOMETHING to post about.

…when the democrats are ever eager to do the Republican’s bidding?

Honestly, when your bill ends up being offered by the “loyal opposition” time and time again, why worry? Heck, you might want to lose a bit more so that your revolution goes faster with less opposition.

Let’s look at the present version of the bill and compare it to a prediction that I had made a few weeks before:

• Health Insurance Becomes Mandatory. Yep. In The Bill. Complete with a fine for not being insured. It’s via a tax, so the government gets to know if you’re insured or not.
• No Public Option. Of course not. We’ll have to get our citizen identity (didn’t that used to be a social security card?) from the private insurance companies. Co-ops are supposed to fit in here, but you know they’ll be small-scale and will probably be legislated into de facto nonexistence should they actually become a force.
• No Laws Mandating Insurance Must Be Given. Supposedly mandatory coverage includes mandatory giving of coverage, plus limits on how wildly one can be charged. We’ll see if that stands up; watch the wording shift around.
• Emergency Rooms and Other Urgent Care Places No Longer Legally Bound to Serve Whomever Comes In. Not yet. Give it a few years, when people start preferring to pay the 1-2K to the government to “self-insure” themselves.
• Money From Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Will Help Out. Just like people arrested for pot insure that rapists and murderers go free (you honestly think the right want anything else?), be assured that eventually it will become a crime to be medically uninsured. Never mind the easiest thing to do would be Single Payer (or some variant thereof), Health Insurance Profits must be expanded, and those who don’t participate must be punished.
• Medicaid and Medicare Will Be Privatized. Already Mitch Daniels is being talked up by Republican talkers as a possible Presidential Candidate in 2012. His claim to fame: Privatizing the Indiana Toll Road (and promising to toll a few other expressways in Indiana. Considering how long one can travel on Indiana Expressways between interchanges, it can actually be done much easier than in other states). He’s also privatized Medicare in the state, although it seems the only ones who know about it are the overworked former government employees (and those trying to get on who now find it impossible to do so). So already it’s been done on the state level somewhere, and the guy who did it has become a rising star in the Republican Party.
• “Health Liability Insurance” Will Be Offered. Not yet, but someone’s already got the product prepared in all but release date for that eventuality. It, too, will allow the companies to reject the holder in case the person does something that pisses enough of the right people off.

The fact is I didn’t vote for the Democrats so they could cravenly cave in to every demand from the losers I voted against. I also didn’t vote for a guy who couldn’t turn his back on an audience or a camera claiming to shoot him for the television screen. I also didn’t vote to have my citizenship in The United States proven by some private company that I have to pay money to so they can have the privilege of saying that I indeed have fulfilled the responsibilities of being a citizen (i.e. having lined the pockets of certain private corporations so the rich can get their fair share of my money).

It’s not a situation which I like, and the fact that “public options” keep showing up on the bills only to get voted down by the slaves of the health insurance companies shows that at least a few folks still try to represent the people.

Admittedly I had said nothing about the Chicago Bid for The Olympics. I had no real opinion on it (other than a generalized dislike for it) and little thought about it. However, as the time came up there was all this sudden rush of highly connected people who “wanted the games in Chicago,” and I suddenly came up with reasons for not wanting the bid. Such as:

• The speeding up of Gary’s collapse by clearing out another area for gentrification and honkification (let’s just say that when the high-rises were torn down up and down the Dan Ryan, Gary’s fall went from slow-but-sure to quick-and-relentless.).
• The graft. Chicago’s famous for that, more so than its towers and other things.
• Knowing that the city that’s unable to work anymore would be saddled by some responsibility that would usurp whatever responsibilities the city IS able to keep up with.
• Knowing that the bastard now (and forever) in charge would have that feather in the cap that he so desires (as if a messed-up Soldier Field, an Intentionally Wrecked Meigs Airport Northerly Island, and the forever missing Lake Calumet Airport wasn’t enough. At least he has his Millenium Park to beam at).

So I finally sent some letter of support to the Rio crew, and a letter to the IOC saying (amongst other things) that Flint, Michigan would do a better job hosting the games than Chicago would.

Well….now that we ended up getting knocked out in the first round I have a couple thoughts (why have just one? If it were up to me, I’d split myself into multiples to as to have more thoughts…):

• While I was happy for Chicago’s loss, I would have liked to have seen the city hold on a bit longer. Losing to Rio or Madrid would have been worthy, losing in the first round was a shocker.
• The one thing the IOC wants to know is that the games will go on NO MATTER WHAT. All the graft, the overruns, the extra efforts worked on for the infrastucture (transit, expelling of bums and crime, housing, other issues) and the overload of tourists MUST be handled, and the IOC wants everything ready BEFORE the games begin. And knowing Chicago’s reputation for time overruns, the heavy debt and dropping services in Chicago, and the ugly state of things in the United States overall; it wouldn’t surprise me if they thought Chicago would never be able to do the Olympics. Remember these were the guys who pushed Athens’ turn at the Olympics from 1996 (century mark) to 2000 so that they’d do the Olympics “right” (which is how Atlanta got their bid in).
• I wonder if the folks at the IOC heard all the people who opposed the Chicago Olympic Bid and figured that it’d be better for them to reject Chicago. After all, when most of the people in the City that’s supposed to be getting the bid tells you they don’t want you in town, one gets feeling mighty uncomfortable… especially when there’s other places that are known as welcoming.
• Here’s a thought: since at least two of the leaders of the countries asking for the Olympics were planning to be at the final vote, Obama’s declaration that he had better things to do at home was probably seen as a blow-off to the Olympic Committee. Obama may have been told that he had better show up or the vote would have been 34 Madrid, 32 Rio, 28 Tokyo and 0 Chicago (interesting that the other city that had to cajole its leader to show up (Tokyo) was removed in the next round.)
• Not getting the Olympics is nothing. There’s other, greater issues to be dealt with, and dealing with them (Like Health Care and Afghanistan) will make the Olympics issue Disappear.

So ends Chicago’s latest foray into foolishness. Hopefully the asshole that calls himself Mayor there will start falling, and soon.

Oct 4, 2009 Edit: Added in an extra point about the President’s earlier comments blowing off the Olympic Committe. Which would have been cool had he stuck by those guns.

First off, I’m sure a lot of people who read this blog know already (because they know Me…) but for those who don’t know: I am a member of Mensa. An easy description is that it is one of the few places in the United States where the stupid aren’t considered innately superior to the smart.

But to the point: a few years ago I bought a membership that covered a few years. Either next year or the year after that membership will end, and I’ll want to make a decision on whether to do a lifetime membership or to just plain quit.

Cost shouldn’t be an issue, as I got plenty of credit and possible plenty of $$$ when the time comes. I’m sure I could even get some financial aid from the person I’m with at the moment.

But here’s the question: If I were to move out, would I still want to be part of Mensa?

That’s it. While my friend is a lifetime member of Mensa, I’m going at it with the possibility of me living by myself when the time for decision comes. One never knows, after all.

Just so you know, I’m just thinking at the moment. Nothing completed, but the thoughts are there.

The Detroit Football Puddy-Tats have pushed aside the 1972-73 Houston Oilers in the history books, becoming the team in the post-merger era to have the second longest losing streak (behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their first 26 games as a franchise).

Detroit now shares second place in the longest losing streak with two other teams. The Oakland Raiders had a 19 game losing streak during 1961-62, when they were pretty much a new franchise (although all of the AFL could be considered as new franchises at that point). The then Chicago Cardinals were actually involved in a 29-game losing streak, but between the war affecting them to a greater degree than other teams (they would win an NFL Championship in 1947, two years after the war ended) and a ten game stint where they were combined with the Pittsburgh Steelers, their swoon can be partly explained.

And Detroit’s excuse? The Curse? The Ownership?

Next weekend’s game is against the Redskins, who are actually pretty bad. It’s possible that they’ll be able to win this one…but then, quite a few of the games last year could have been won were it not for mistakes or general Puddy-Tattiness. After the Redskins there’s Chicago (who’s pretty good; they just defeated the Super Bowl Champion Steelers) and if both these games are losses we’ll start seeing a “Countdown to 27(and maybe a countdown to 30, to make EVERYTHING clear).

(first posted September 20th, edited on the 21st)

Yeah…let me explain.

I was there in 1991, after four straight years of Michigan State being in the upper echelon of the Big Ten. There was that issue of Steroids, but about the only people who believed it (from my vantage point) were UofM fans and a couple of reporters in Detroit’s Conservative Paper. I don’t even remember a name mentioned in that newspaper article, and quite a few of us read that article and commented on it.

Everyone expected Michigan State to be about as strong and powerful as before, and while Perles’s successful putsch for the Athletic Director’s job left a sour taste in many people’s mouths (including school president John DiBiaggio, he jumped to Tufts University as soon as he could) it was assumed that the Spartans would have another winning season including a good bowl; and from there that sour taste would disappear in the aura of a man able to successfully juggle two jobs.

Then came The Central Michigan University Chippewas. It wasn’t even close in 1991, and the 1992 game was more lopsided than the score looked. Heck, had the Chips had a defense in 1993, they would have been 3-0 against MSU during that period.

Needless to say, the sour taste became bitter.

I remember being in the cab at the time. I didn’t even listen to the game, but I did ask dispatch what the score was towards the end of the game. He said “Central over State, 20-3;” I didn’t react for three minutes – it took me that long to realize what he said.

I then got caught on campus when the game ended. I’m not sure what was more startling: taking the cab over all the gulleys the MSU fans were digging in the sod and pavement, or seeing CMU fans walking OVER my cab.

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In retrospective, that was probably one of the first signs to those of us who hadn’t followed Mandrich’s “career” in Green Bay (He’d have a better time in a few years in Indianapolis, but that’s another story) that the Detroit News and UofM fans were right about MSU’s football team being on steroids. After all, a great team doesn’t just fall off the national stage so completely after four years of being one of the best. It takes time to fall…time of fighting, readjusting, even rising back before one sees the possibility of living life in the constant shadow of mediocrity. Ask Michigan fans (who claim they’re still fighting), Notre Dame fans (further along in the collapse, IMHO), Miami Hurricane Fans, Nebraska Cornhusker Fans, even MSU fans who were around during the glory years of the 1950’s and 1960’s (and who remember the struggles since then); if they’re not in denial they’ll tell you the pains and struggles that go with being on the downside of past glories.

And four years of greatness doesn’t cut it. Especially when it comes on the heels of three years of Probation (No TV, No Postseason, many fewer scholarships) and seven years of various levels of sucking after that. Teams with a history of greatness tend to drop slowly, with fits and starts back towards the top.

And even if the Central Michigan’s teams from the early nineties were some of the best they’ve put on the field (if one school’s building their own football team wouldn’t it make sense that some others would have good players gifted to them, good players with something to prove?), we’re still talking about the difference between 1-A and 1-AA (or as it’s now known, Bowl Division and Playoff Division). Enough of a difference that a 1-A team losing to a 1-AA team should be questioned. That you’d have four years of “greatness surrounded by five years of sub-500 play on both sides makes those four years look VERY suspicious. Steroid encrusted, maybe.

(Of course, it doesn’t help that Pittsburgh’s 70s juggernaut turns out to have been steroid-fueled, as did the AFL/AFC from the days of Kansas City’s championship year. Of course, you know who was Pittsburgh’s defensive coach during that time. Makes me wonder if he hadn’t been given notice and was allowed to jump to Michigan State before he had to be “fired.”)

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

And, of course, this last year was a year of MSU overachievement. Finishing third at 6-2 in-conference record (9-4 overall, including bowl game), they played better than anyone expected them to. Of course, it was a different year with Michigan struggling to go 3-9 and the whole of the Big Ten having the bad year that everyone else was expecting and hoping for. But still, 9-3 (pre-bowlgame) and third behind OSU and Penn State was much more than expected by all.

In comes Central Michigan. An MAC team with a chip on its shoulder and a history of killing “that giant down 27 127″ every so often. And while  they end up spending most of the game behind, they end up winning on some last-minute plays and final mistakes.

Was CMU 2 points better than MSU? Try a touchdown better. After all, with them being at home and playing in a “better” conference, MSU is coming in with expectations to win the game. CMU not only has to play better than their opponent, they also have to outplay the fact that they’re at the opponent’s stadium (a 3 point swing in and by itself) AND their station in the scheme of the NCAA universe. So definitely a touchdown, maybe more better than MSU.

(and lest you think I’m joking, think of all the games that have played so far that were close. Almost always the bigger, higher-placed team was able to pull out in the end.)

So congratulations, CMU. 3-4 isn’t bad, given the relative stations.

And it looks like it’s going to be a long year at East Lansing….

1. I haven’t heard Obama’s speech, nor read it. Don’t need to, don’t care to.
2. I’ve heard enough speeches (and not just from Obama). I’m waiting for the payoff (or is that payback?).

I remember reading a blog put out by supposed liberals in Pennsylvania where the bloggers were threatening to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket. I assumed this was a bunch of neocon operatives, since by that time it was obvious what we were seeing with the seemingly presidential Obama and the off-kilter Palin (And the questionableness of McCain for picking her. As I had explained frequently in the real world, I respected that McCain would pick someone like her, what I couldn’t respect was that he picked HER.).

Now, more recently, I’ve seen a few more blogs which claim to be liberal and hate Obama. I’m not going to doubt their liberal credentials. Instead I’m going to try to explain, in plain language, why their candidate (Mrs. Clinton) didn’t win the election:

• If I remember right, she was about to be coronated the Democratic Candidate when she declared herself a candidate. In short, it was hers to lose.
• She didn’t seen to have a steady message, but tried out stuff to see what would stick. I especially noticed this towards the end, when McCain talked about a “Gas Tax Holiday” and Hillary readily agreed that that would be a good idea. Obama nuked that idea clearly in time for the Indiana primary (“Twenty-two dollars. A half a tank of gas.”).
• I don’t remember the racism remarks from the Obama-ites aimed towards the Clintonians. I also don’t remember anything aimed at Obama-ites by the Clintonian I DO remember reading a couple of essays by white women talking about how “those poor little white men will have to choose someone not like them. poor little things…BWAHAHAHAHA.” These same women would, a few months later, yell at white men for “not choosing the proper candidate,” a code phrase for charging us with sexism. (To which I say, if you wish to belittle us to begin with, don’t expect to need our votes for your plans. Or did you feminist columnists forget that already? Mind you, I’d like Obama to remember that in relation to the Republicans…)
• And while it was true that Obama wasn’t necessarily tested (and I remember thinking it was good that he got good experience along for his ride, a thought I’m now considering as mistaken for various reasons) I remember that Hillary was Tested AND FAILED THE TESTS! If I remember right, Health Care was her responsibility and she messed it up big time. Indeed, she was part of the reason that Bill Clinton became one of the most successful Neocon presidents in the past twenty-eight years.

In short we had good reasons NOT to pick Clinton. She had the nomination and didn’t sew it up, she didn’t have a solid message (Gore? Kerry? Dukakis? Et Tu, Hillary?), She had failed before and We didn’t like the results of her failures. The mocking didn’t directly relate, but I’m sure it had its effect of many men.

And so we have Obama as president.

Deal with it, for once.

I: The Personal:
Do I Honestly Expect These Guys To Be Here When I Need Them? They Expect Me To Be There Every Quarter, When They Pay Out Their Dividends

Just got my renewal notice for my health care insurance. Went up from around $210/month to over $270/month, starting in October. For what I now have.

Yeah, I know…I can change what I get, shift certain monies around, etc. I’m sure everyone does that, and there may even be a co-op in Northwest Indiana that’ll do what I want for a bit cheaper than what I have now.

Thing is…I’ve seen my health insurance jump up 80% in four years (16% inflation yearly) and I’ve enjoyed maybe a 12.5% increase in wages during those past four years. I don’t like the idea of having to spend more for less, and while I wouldn’t mind the extra money in my wallet (paying off debts, or saving or spending on stuff) I can’t say I like the idea of going bare-back when I don’t have to. Especially since I’m in the position where everything will stick to me no matter what.

I mean…it’s kinda sad when you don’t see the doctor too much, have nothing major happen to you and you bill increases by nearly one third.

II: The Political:
Why There’s No Longer Any Reason For The Republican Party To Exist (Outside Of A Need For The Facade of Competition For The Consumption Of The People)

This is the second time I’ve seen it happen: The Democrats get swept into the Presidential Office with plenty of people in both houses. They spend time spinning their wheels, spending their good will on other subjects (at least Obama can say he’s had to save some parts of the American Economy.) Then they try their hand at health care, and get so beaten down that they don’t recover.

Now ask yourself: Do we really need a Republican Party anymore? Who needs to think when your opposition begs you for your approval, then pleads for you to stop when you pound their face in?

Used to be Republicans had to think to justify themselves. Needless to say, they became the party of the thinkers for many. Granted, their thoughts were bad and bald justifications for the exploitation of the poor and middle classes by the rich, but at least they had to make an effort.

But then, the Democrats used to think as well. How else would a party of the Jim Crow South become the party of Racial Justice, except that party members began thinking and became willing to pay the price for doing what was right?

Now the Democrats have pretty much become the party of the lazy. The voters have come to assume that once they vote someone in the representative has no choice but to robotically represent the “majority vote” when time for voting comes. The worst threat they can come to muster is “We’ll see what happens come November” – a threat that has become less and less powerful as districts have become more and more jerrymandered for the safety of the representative.

So the Republicans shout out buzz-phrases and what they hear from the blatantly biased press – pale parodies of their historical reputation as the thinking man’s party. That their greatest victories keep coming from Democrats stems not from the power of their ideas but from the craven cowardice of the Democratic representatives and the fact that most Democrats have gone out of their way to forget that Politics is a Contact Sport.

Something the Republicans learned from Saul Alinsky, by the way. I’ve never liked the guy (never mind the tepid review of the guy’s life I gave earlier) but there’s a lot I have to give to him. Like the fact that if you want something, you don’t vote someone in and let him .

III: The Future:
PalinCare and The Death of Emergency Room Care

Thing is, if I were the Republicans I wouldn’t rest on my laurels like they did in 1994. Obviously the desire for health care reform is great (hence the fact that it keeps on coming up), and I doubt that people will accept its staying silent for the next ten-fifteen years. So don’t be surprised if, after a midterm election with the Republicans magically in power again, we start seeing THEIR version of health insurance reform.

Notice I said “Health Insurance Reform,” not “Health Care Reform.” It will be more concerned with insuring that the health insurance companies get their profits; whatever effects this will have on health care won’t matter much to them.

So, we’ll see a bill show up that will have the following:

• Health Insurance Becomes Mandatory. Every American will need to have health insurance in order to get health care.
• No Public Option. This means everyone’s insurance will have to be gotten through private sources, most likely meaning profit-drivin companies.
• No Laws Mandating Insurance Must Be Given. After all, we’re talking about private companies; gotta give THEM the right to choose. Right? After all, they gotta be able to profit from their covering us.
• Emergency Rooms and Other Urgent Care Places No Longer Legally Bound to Serve Whomever Comes In. After all, you have to have SOME way to punish those who can’t afford health insurance keep those who are barred from insurance from getting needed care insure compliance with the new laws.
• Money From Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Will Help Out. You think this was just about Health Insurance? Gotta make sure those “Illegal Aliens” can’t get well off our buck, can we? Of course not. And since insurance is mandatory, no reason not to arrest those trying to get health care without health insurance.
• Medicaid and Medicare Will Be Privatized. After all, if you’re going to force everyone else to subsidize the profits of the Insurance companies, why not do the same for the old and the infirm? With Universal Health Insurance mandated by law, why have them specially set aside?

Obviously, there will be a bunch of people who will be willing to pay for something that says they’re insured, even if it covers nothing outside of the stated requirement. We already have that for automobile insurance: Liability Insurance. It covers you in case you plow into someone else and they need their car fixed; but otherwise it’s there for the driver to say “they’re insured” and nothing else.

You’ll see something along those lines with the coming PalinCare Health Insurance Reform. I’m not sure what it will be called, and it will probably have something along the line of a free yearly doctor’s visit plus some relief for acute problems (like injuries from a car accident), but mostly it will just say that “I’m Insured According To The Legal Requirements Of The PalinCare Law.” It will be a certain level of billing so that it won’t be TOO MUCH of a burden…as long as you’re still employed. You can even come to the government to subsidize the basic portion if you want.

And those without “insurance” (or unable to prove “insurance”) will end up unable to get proper care. They’ll either figure it out on their own, or find themselves criminalized. Or forced to overpay for emergency insurance…after all, these companies can always use a few spare bucks, and as long as it’s yours….

Watching the people in this nation go nuts on the Age of Consent Laws and the glorification of Cougars, a thought entered my mind:

Has The Human Race Finally Hit Its Planetary Carrying Capacity?

Think of it: Japan and Europe are losing population. So is Russia (although for different reasons). The United States and Canada have grown mainly by importing people. China’s suffering from an extreme shortage of women (or is it an extreme excess of men) and is about to drop into a decline as there are way fewer children than parents or grandparents. India is seeing the extreme anti-female biases in certain northern provinces (where ALL female babies are killed and the wives are imported – to their shame – to the provinces) spread all over the continent. And in certain areas of Africa, HIV and AIDS has become so great that some countries are in triage mode (all the while little girls and babies are being raped for their “curative powers”).

And what are WE doing? Making girls at their peak fertility years forbidden to all but the youngest of men (and with a ticking time bomb hanging over their heads, as well) while sexualizing women who should be taking care of children and women whom would seem to be too old to bear healthy children (the older the woman is, the more likely she’ll bear children with chromosomal problems and other physical issues. Check out the studies). Not only that, but the idea that we should be lusting after other people’s mothers (Got MILF, anyone?) can be a bit disturbing. Sure, their puppies get bigger during pregnancy, but them things are that way FOR A REASON BY THAT POINT!

The point being, the human race is trying NOT to breed. In some societies, that’s being done by getting rid of the girls, in other places it’s by shifting the subjects of desire to an older and older range; and other places it’s done by brute force and trauma.

Which COULD mean that, at some level, the human race has figured that there’s too many people on the earth and is trying to shrink its numbers by itself. It could also mean that we’re reacting unknowingly to the overload (as I’m sure some of the fruit fly populations in the jars tried doing on occasion; it just happened too fast for a successful change).

Nothing I’m willing to say for a fact, but some thoughts that keep re-occurring in my head.